preen
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preen¹
- /pɹiːn/
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
From Middle English pren, from Old English prēon, from Proto-Germanic *preunaz (compare Icelandic prjónn (“pin, knitting-needle”), Danish pryne (“needle, eel-spear”)), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *brewn- (“protrusion, tip, edge”) (compare Lithuanian briaunà (“edge”), Albanian brez (“belt, girdle”)). Cognate with German Pfriem.
The verb is from Middle English prenen, from pren (“a preen”), akin to German pfriemen.
noun preens · prin
- A forked tool used by clothiers for dressing cloth.
- A pin. She never seemed to want for siller; the house was as bright as a new preen, the yaird better delved than the manse garden; […]
- A bodkin; brooch.
verb preens · preening · preened · prin
- To pin; fasten.
preen²
- /pɹiːn/
Rhymes with -iːn
Where it comes from
Variant of prune (by influence of preen above). Attested in Chaucer (c. 1395) in the variants preyneth, prayneth, proyneth, prunyht, pruneth, from Old French proignier (“to trim the feathers with the beak”).
verb preens · preening · preened
- To groom; to trim or dress the feathers with the beak.
-
To spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance, e.g. in front of a mirror.
Mr Kernan halted and preened himself before the sloping mirror of Peter Kennedy, hairdresser. Stylish coat, beyond a doubt. Scott of Dawson street. Well worth the half sovereign I gave Neary for it.
Similar: primp, smarten up
-
To show off, posture, or smarm.
His preening self-satisfaction, chest thrown forward as he settles into a chair in his mansion...
Similar: flex, fluff one's feathers, swagger, aura farm, boulevardier, cut a wide swath, cut it fat, cut round, exhibitionize, figure away, flamboast, flaunt
-
To flatter.
In Miller's view the play is expressive of a peculiarly Renaissance vision of the harmonious marriage within the orderly society: 'its spirit derives from Elizabethan Puritanism's view of the household as an orderly place in whichc the marriage is consecrated not in the church but in the orderly pro
Similar: jolly, puff, stroke, brush up to, collogue, flatter, flatterize, glaver, gloze, lay it on thick, make fair weather, palaver
- To comb; to make orderly. My two roommates are engineers who preen the diesels.
- To trim up, as trees. Adjusting his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, he gently preened the bush with his pruners.
- To improve the appearance of; groom; prettify. He brushed and preened the marquis, front and back. “Lucky we are, Your Grace, no gashes that I see. But the beard is in a woeful state —”
Translations
Every language
verb to groom (of birds)
| 中文 | 用喙整理羽毛 |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | putzen |
| Русский | чи́ститься čístitʹsja, почи́ститься počístitʹsja, прихора́шиваться prixorášivatʹsja, прихороши́ться prixorošítʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | rỉa |
verb to spend time making oneself attractive and admiring one's appearance (of people)
| Deutsch | herausputzen, zurechtmachen, aufbretzeln |
|---|---|
| Русский | прихора́шиваться prixorášivatʹsja, прихороши́ться prixorošítʹsja |
verb to show off
| Español | ostentar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | sich brüsten |
Talk about this word "preen." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/preen. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. preen. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/preen "preen." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/preen.Cite this
@misc{preen_2026,
title = {preen},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/preen},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
